The Plague Dogs (1982, UK)
A pair of dogs escape from a research laboratory into the wild, but soon find themselves hunted as believed carriers of a virus.
(Unofficial trailer by The Cinefamily Theatre @cinefamily)
All animated and painted without any rotoscoping and real unfriendly for animal lovers, The Plague Dogs was a spiritual sequel to the mature British animation landmark, Watership Down, both were based on stories by author Richard Adams and both were directed by Martin Rosen. Plague Dogs is almost right away from the opening scene a much starker film than Watership before it - it deals with the effects of animal testing, cruelty towards animals even outside the labs, and its wilderness survival is grounded and less fanciful. The story was adjusted which ends bleaker than its source.
However those who continue to watch are rewarded with a brave, uncompromising film that lets viewers invest in the dogs’ bleak journey and leaves them with a poignant experience that most other films in general are not like. Instinct is the prominent terror - rather than a central villainous figure or even species - that drives the human’s fear over the virus concerns and instinct is what drives the animals further and further to drastic measures. Martin Rosen was normally a producer but directed Watership only after his planned director left. After the critical and warm commercial success of that film, Rosen then followed with Plague Dogs.
Can I find this? Sure. While The Plague Dogs can be bought on DVD in North America, it is of a truncated edit demanded by American distributors shortly after the film’s release. The film’s original version was made available internationally, sourced from Martin Rosen’s own film print. After the Criterion Collection’s release of Watership Down, it is unknown but not impossible if they will do the same for Plague Dogs.